Democratic heavyweights line up for primary battle in new Texas Latino district

The battle for a newly drawn congressional district will pit two seasoned Democratic politicians against one another: Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Sylvia S. Romo and former U.S. Rep. Ciro Rodriguez.

On the first day of filing for the March primaries, Romo said Monday that she plans to run in the 35th Congressional District.

“I will probably file this coming Friday,” she said.

Romo served two terms as a state representative before first winning the seat of tax assessor-collector in 1996. She declined Monday to provide her age. Bexar County records list her as 68.

“Looking at all the problems that this country is facing, with my background and experience, I felt that I could be a part of the solution,” Romo said. “I’m a businesswoman, I’m a CPA, I’m an administrator, I’m a mother, I’m a woman, I’m a Latina — you have all of these facets that will help me to see things in a different light.”

Romo’s decision to run cleared the way Monday for former Pearsall City Manager Albert Uresti, 56, to file for the seat of county tax assessor-collector.

Uresti said he considered running for Congress but that after consulting with his family — state Sen. Carlos Uresti, D-San Antonio, is his brother — he decided to run for the Bexar County position.

“After assessing everything, we just felt like this was the best fit,” Albert Uresti said.

Former Rep. Ciro Rodriguez (Express-News photo)

Rodriguez, 64, filed Monday for the 35th District. It will be the third district he has sought in the past 14 years.

Rodriguez was first elected in a 1997 special election to replace the late Rep. Frank Tejeda, D-San Antonio, in the 28th District. Rodriguez was defeated later in a Democratic primary by Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Laredo.

Rodriguez then ran and defeated Rep. Henry Bonilla, R-San Antonio, in the 23rd District, after the Supreme Court ordered the political lines drawn to include more Hispanics. The result was the inclusion of the South Side, Rodriguez’s political base.

The political jockeying comes amid a surprise announcement by Rep. Charlie Gonzalez last week that he would not seek re-election.

That decision ended nearly 50 years of representation by the Gonzalez family and presented an opening for state Rep. Joaquín Castro, 37, twin brother of Mayor Julían Castro. The Democrat will seek Gonzalez’s 20th District seat. Earlier this year, Joaquín Castro had planned to run for the 35th District seat.

Also Monday, Ezra Johnson, a local attorney, said he would challenge Castro in the primary.

“I’m definitely running,” said Johnson, who had yet to file.

A political neophyte, Johnson, 35, has worked as an attorney at the city’s largest law firm, Cox Smith, for three years. Before that, he served as band director at Harris Middle School. He said he still plays in a local “tuba quartet” – The Tubameisters.

“I think you’d have to call me an outsider,” he said.

This report was written by Brian Chasnoff of the San Antonio Express-News and Gary Martin of the Washington bureau.